The Rundfunkbeitrag: Your Business Pays a Broadcasting Fee, TV or Not

The Rundfunkbeitrag for Businesses

Your company owes the Rundfunkbeitrag (still called "GEZ") whether or not it owns a TV, radio, or anything that receives a signal. It funds public broadcasting, it is separate from your private household fee, and having a business is the only trigger it needs.

The fee scales per location by headcount

Charged per Betriebsstaette (business location), based on employees registered for social security at that site. Per location:

• 0-8 employees: base rate, around 73 € per year
• 9-19 employees: about one-third of a full monthly unit
• 20-49 employees: one full unit
• 50-249 employees: several units
• larger sites: progressively more

Each bracket costs meaningfully more, so headcount at each site drives the bill.

Not every worker counts

• Only locations with social-security employees trigger a fee.
• Mini-job workers generally do not count toward the thresholds.
• Part-time staff count fractionally.

One vehicle free per location, then about 6 € each

Each location gets one company vehicle free. Every additional vehicle (car, van, truck, bus) adds roughly 6 € per year.

You usually do not have to chase them

Register promptly after founding, but in practice the broadcasting authority contacts you once your Gewerbeanmeldung or Handelsregister entry is processed. You get an account number for all future correspondence.

The form is where you overpay

• It asks about employees, locations, and vehicles. Overstate your headcount and you pay far more than you owe.
• The authority collects back payments when you underpay. It does not volunteer refunds when you overpay. Get the numbers right the first time.
• A solo founder with no social-security employees still owes the base fee per location.

Treat the letter as real mail, not a scam, and answer it accurately. The fee is unavoidable; a careful form keeps it small.